


Dark Revelations (NANOWRIMO)

by starlalarue



Category: AntiSeptiplier, Darkseptiplier, Septiplier - Fandom, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: 2am struggles of writers block on a deadline, Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Addiction, Blood, Helplessness, I love their real relationships and no amount of shipping should get in their way, M/M, NaNoWriMo, No longer like septiplier so it kind of puts me off, Not Understanding, Once again their real relationships mean more to me than any stupid fantasy, Pain Kink, Slightly rushed, The people are here as characters, They're too cute! No one hurt them or I'll hurt you., Unwanted Advances, Violence, Will clean it up after november but I wanted to get something out, difference of opinions, sorry if it's shit
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-01
Updated: 2016-11-21
Packaged: 2018-08-28 13:09:43
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 15
Words: 23,285
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8447155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starlalarue/pseuds/starlalarue
Summary: A dark/anti story I decided to write for nanowrimo that I went into with 0 preperation so hopefully it turns out somewhat okay.
NOT CONTINUING





	1. I'm Late! I'm Feckin Late!

Tickets. Check. Phone. Check. Laptop. Check. Chargers? Shite! I knew there was something I was forgetting. Sprinting back to the door I gestured wildly at the taxi driver to hold on for 2 minutes and try to let him know that I still needed to get to the airport. The man in front of me just looked back at me blankly. Great… he had no idea what I was trying to get at, hopefully my bags would still be there along with the cab when I got back down to the street.

I ran up the staircase taking it 3 steps at a time. Almost. There. Just. Keep. Going. I breathed out heavily my green hair rising up before falling messily across my face. Great…

So my plane was in 58 minutes. I lived 20 minutes from the airport and the check in was 30 minutes before. Why was I panicking I had PLENTY of time. As long as the world didn’t decide to throw a myriad of traffic lights at me and the roads were next to empty I’d be there with plenty of time to spare. I mean how big could the airport really be. 

I was sure that those chick flick films were exaggerating the long run to the gates. No airport could possibly be that shoddily designed. Right? Balls! If I was going to give myself the time I really had to stop getting distracted and start keeping myself on track…. Oh who am I kidding that’s just not going to happen. If I didn’t get distracted, then I just wouldn’t be me. 

Right. Charger. Charger… where art thou charger? God Damn it! Maybe if I hadn’t destroyed my room looking for my travel adapter then I wouldn’t have a spider’s web of plastic and wire. Sighing in resignation I grabbed a bag and shoved the tangle deep inside it. I’ll deal with it on the plane. I had been up so late last night trying to make sure all of my videos were set up and ready for when I wouldn’t be here that I had lost track of time. I had been meaning to pack yesterday I really had but once you get into recording Batman time just seems to fly. I don’t remember what time I went to sleep last night but I woke up 30 minutes late this morning and I’m sure I still have the imprint of the keyboard on my face. Thankfully meeting my cheek didn’t affect any of my content and it still saved ready to upload. God I always get nervous before trips like this. My schedule is something that I’m so proud of and to think that a tiny glitch on YouTube and it could be ruined. I can never recover from something like that. It breaks my heart.

A sudden car horn broke me out of my thought. Oh Shit! The Taxi was still down on the street waiting for me. Have I got everything now….? Probably not!

I legged it to the staircase and slid down the banister enjoying the way that it made me feel like I was four years old again. I had been so excited to go on this trip from the moment we agreed on it over skype. The only real time that I had been in America had been for conventions and there was a distinct difference between going over to see fans and do panels and meet ups and going over to just spend time with friends and people that you care about. As I got to the door my phone buzzed to life. Ah I don’t have time for this right now. I slammed the door and locked it behind me. Next stop LA… well technically the airport and then LA but the airport doesn’t really count right I mean I’m not going to go to someone and be like oh yeah I went to the airport today or I’m going to go on holiday next year oh you are too? Well where are you going? Barcelona sounds lovely… oh me? I’m going to Dublin airport. That is not something that happens. People go to airports to get to other places so when I say next stop I mean the next actual stop. So yeah I have to sit in the waiting room at the airport but my point is my final destination today… well not technically today what with the time differences and all…. Damn it. I’m going to be in LA in the next 3 days. I’m getting on a plane. Why was that so fecking complicated?

With my backpack firmly on my back and my bag in my hand I picked up my case and threw it into the back of the vehicle climbing in beside it. As soon as the door was closed the driver took off through the country streets at speed. So maybe we were running a little late. I can run, it’ll be fiiiine! As we sped through the country and started to get closer to the airport I started to get nervous. I’d never really been around the people I thought of as friends much without being at a convention. I knew that I was probably just being stupid but what if they didn’t like me. Was there a possibility that they just faked it in front of the fans to make them happy… I took a deep breath. That’s not true. They took the time to skype me and I’m sure they wouldn’t do that if they didn’t care about me in some respect. The fans didn’t see all of the skype calls that we had because we don’t just go into recordings prepared. Who do you think we are? Us? Prepared? I highly fuckin’ doubt it!

People don’t skype people if they don’t like them so shut up brain. They’re my friends and this is going to be an amazing week. When do people get this opportunity usually? I’m going to a whole different country and I’m going to get the opportunity to be with people that I care about and I have the money to just do it on a whim without having to save up for months. 

When we got to the airport I realised that I might have misjudged how much time I had. I threw 60 euros at the taxi driver apologising profusely for how unprepared I had been and then I grabbed my luggage in both hands and took off at a run through the airport terminal. At least I knew where I needed to be I just have to get there before the gate… shuts… can’t… be…. that…. hard…. Oh shit… lungs…. burning… fuck… my…. life…. huurts…. aaaaaaaaahhhhhh…. why can’t…. I just…. Be there already? No no no not now. 

“Hello Officer”

“Sir why are you in such a rush today?”

“I screwed up. I’m running super late and my flight is going to leave and my gate closes in less than 5 minutes and if I don’t get there my friend is going to be waiting at the airport and well I feel terrible because he’s getting up early just to come and get me and please I just want to get to the gate so that I’m not left behind.”

“Hmm.. wait why do I recognise you? What’s your name?”

“Sean, umm why do you ask sir?”

“I’m sure I’ve seen you somewhere. I have a feeling it’s something my daughters showed me I’m sure….”

“Well I’m not sure but I make youtube videos for a living.”

“That’s quite likely then. They watch a lot of people online so you’re likely one of them. Anyway I’ll let you get on your way wouldn’t want you to miss your flight now would we?”

“No, uhr thank you”

SHIIIIIITTTT! I should definitely have left earlier… Just a few more metres I can make it just believe. 

I got to the desk with one minute to spare.

“I want to check in… for the flight to LA. Please tell me I got here on time, I was late anyway and then I was stopped by the police because I was running and…”

“The check in is closing now. You’re the last one through.”

“Thank Jesus”

As I took my ticket from the lady who checked me in I walked over to the seats that were facing out the window. I don’t know whether I love the countryside or hate it. I guess I love it in the long run because without it I wouldn’t have watched what I did online that led to me starting to play games and then starting YouTube thanks to Mark.

Plugging my headphones into my phone I listened to his latest upload. Why does he still play FNAF, I get that he’s the king and all but he doesn’t have to beat every game at the highest level. I do respect him for it though. He hates the animatronics but that doesn’t stop him playing the games as the fans demand them.

Now boarding flight 541 seats 54 – 91

Well it looks like I made it. I bit my lip. It’s going to be a long week but I don’t have to worry about anything. My videos are ready to upload and I’m just going to have a fun week in California with some of my best friends and I get to enjoy it all thanks to my fans. People don’t take me seriously when I say things like this but without my fans, sorry my community then I would not be here and I would never have gotten to meet some of the people that I have respected for years. I love my fans and I am so glad that I am able to experience things that most people can only dream of. I can’t wait for this week and I just hope that it’s going to be as fun as I have been hoping for it to be.


	2. Reluctant Smiles

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Flying makes me cranky.

I can honestly say that the flight that I just experienced was the worst of my life. I’ve had my luggage lost in the past, I’ve had the stereotypical crying child right behind me, beside me, placed on my lap…. It’s a long story and I’ve been placed on a plane 16 hours after I was due to land but today went to whole new heights. The flight attendant decided that I should have been on a different flight. Apparently I was distracting the other customers by being me. I wasn’t shouting and I had noise cancelling headphones on. What the hell am I meant to do about the fact people know me it’s not like they were complaining that they were on a plane with me and I was quite happy to talk with them. We didn’t cause any trouble and there was no reason for her to practically threaten to throw me out of the plane half way across the ocean. I don’t usually suffer too badly from flights but I tried to sleep and the fucking air hostess decided that I needed to talk to the co-captain about my attitude. Ugh, why did she have to ruin what should have been a relaxing flight.

 

Right now I just need to pretend like nothing happened though. Nothing is going to get me down today. I’m going to be happy no matter who doesn’t want me to be because I get to see my best friend in the whole entire world.

 

Yes I have friends back home too. Why does everyone assume that just because I practically lived in the middle of nowhere for years that I don’t know people. I did come into contact with people, I went to school and college guys, it’s not like the cabin was on another planet. Yes I know people in my own neighbourhood aswell it was just harder to keep in contact with people in real life because we were so far out of the way for so long. Youtube is something that allowed me to be who I am and the fact that I have met so many awesome people through doing it is always going to be a bonus. I’ve had so many dreams come true in the past few years that it’s unreal. When I think back to how I started my channel never did I think that I would be flying into LA at 4:15am and being met at the airport by one of the people who was an inspiration to me. The fact that Mark and I are friends now is mind boggling but I wouldn’t want it any other way because we make each other laugh and we can tell each other anything and other than that there isn’t much else a friendship needs that we don’t have.

 

Stepping down off of the plane I stretched yawning. The jet lag was real this time around, at least I wouldn’t be letting anyone down if I slept in though so that was nice.

 

Once I had stared at the luggage carrousel for almost 30 minutes I finally saw the dark red of my case. Sighing frustrated I stood up pulling it off of the belt. Did they take my case on a tour of the airport? The plane was right outside. Right.. it’s okay…. I’m not getting angry… Placing the bag onto it’s wheels I dragged it out into the main waiting area of the airport. I looked around frantically searching for that bright red hair, he’d promised he was going to get up early to come get me and then we were going to go and grab some breakfast and by the time we got back to his we would actually be awake at a reasonable hour and wouldn’t have too long until the guys came over to play some games.

 

My smile dropped. I’m not early. I knew that and I didn’t know what was going on.

 

“Mark?”

 

The looks people gave me were enough to shut me up again. He wasn’t here. I sat down on a bench and put my bag down beside me. Maybe he was running late or maybe he’d overslept… Okay Jack just stay calm. Getting my phone out I opened up skype to see if I’d gotten any messages. I just need it to load… Skype not now. Why did updates have to happen at the worst possible times. No new messages… hmm that’s so strange. Well I guess not actually. Mark is always bad at keeping to a sleep schedule and I’m sure that with the excitement as well he probably did exactly what I did and fell asleep without realising it.

 

Scrolling through our messages I searched for his address. I know he sent it to me less than a month ago. Ah hah! Got it! I guess if he’s not here I’m just going to have to go to him.

 

Sighing heavily, I stood up and dragged myself and my bags outside and onto the pavement. There were no cars. I laughed to myself. How many people had seen LA this empty, the place was like a ghost town and that was the furthest thing from what I was expecting coming here. At least there was signal though.

 

“Yes hello I would like to book a taxi. For as soon as possible please. I’m at the LAX airport. Yes and my name is Sean. Thank you.”

 

Well at least he seemed more cheerful than most people. I suppose if you spend your life working night shifts the night becomes like the daytime to you. Pulling my bag to the edge of the road I sat on the kerb. It’s not like there is much that I can do until the taxi arrives. All of that rushing around back in Ireland and now I’m back to waiting again. I hate waiting.

 

While I sat waiting I thought about all the games that we had played together. We bounced off of each other and people loved it, we kept playing and our subscribers loved it. It’s not hard to become such good friends with someone when you spend so much time talking to them. Just because we didn’t spend much time in the same room didn’t mean we knew nothing about each other, we knew more about each other than we did ourselves.

 

Seeing headlights come around the corner I stood up pulling the handle on my case up with me. At least the transport around here is a bit quicker than back home. The driver helped me put my bags into his car and then I got in as he took up the wheel again. Putting my seatbelt on I plugged my headphones into my phone again and leant against the window where I could watch the world go by. The driver seemed to understand me better than the last one as well and he could tell I didn’t want to speak. I mean I wasn’t completely against it but I was so mentally and physically exhausted that the silence was a welcome one. As we drove through the city I was, for once able to take in America. While I adore going to conventions, meeting my subscribers and hanging out with friends there’s something different about going somewhere for a vacation and going somewhere for work.

 

As I looked at the people dribbling out of the clubs in the early morning light I smirked to myself. I’ve never been one for drinking, despite my heritage but you certainly could get a night to… well try and remember out of it. Yawning quietly, I closed my eyes shifting my cheek slightly against the glass. At least it was fairly cool at the moment. Once the sun came up I of course knew that everything would change, I was shocked every time I got back to Ireland that despite how much time I had spent in the sun, my skin still glowed a pale almost luminescent white. That’s being Irish for ya.

 

As my thoughts began to wonder I started to drift off to sleep. The jet lag was really going to be a bitch this time I could already feel it. I wasn’t really up for trying to stay up and fight my way through it this time, besides I’ve not even met up with Mark yet, there’s still time.

 

This was going to be a week to remember alright, we’d planned every detail meticulously and nothing was going to stop us above everything having fun and enjoying each other’s company. After all wasn’t that half of what this was about. Taking our skype conversations and actually interacting in the real world for once. I know shock horror. Having to actually do things in the real world.

 

When I had talked to him last he had been bouncing with excitement, not that I wasn’t but for once I was able to internalise it. Of course I was equally scared as I was excited. Sure I was going to have the time of my life but to get there I was going to have to go far outside of my comfort zone, fly out alone and figure out where on earth I was once I got out of the airport. Naturally when I had voiced my concerns Mark had been adamant that he would meet me at the airport which at the time had at least eased some of my concerns. It didn’t help me much now but the thought had been there and he was always the one to put thought into the smallest details.

 

Somewhere in the back of my mind I registered that the car stopped and the front door opened as the driver got out to retrieve my stuff. This was it we were here. The time had come and I felt like I was going to burst.

 

_That can be arranged._


	3. It's a hell of a feeling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jack 'breaks into' Mark's home and confronts him without thinking things through.

Shit.

 

As per usual I really hadn’t thought this plan the whole way through. So yes I knew where Mark lived and yes I had the money for the taxi and well I guess… I… So I didn’t think about how I was going to actually get to him. The driver was stood by his cab waiting to leave and I handed him the money for my fair and a large tip as well.

 

“You want me to wait until you get in?”

 

“No. That’s alright.”

 

This guy was truly a decent person. Most people would have taken the money and bolted but I guess he cared. Whether he did for everyone or whether it was because I was small and Irish and it was before sunrise in LA I wasn’t sure but unlike most people he was bothered whether I ever got to my final destination or not. As I started making my way across the garden to the front door I heard the engine fire up and the gentle hum get quieter as the car drove away. If I’m being honest I was still massively freaked out by the unnerving silence that surrounded the area. It felt like the feckin’ apocalypse for christ’s sake but I had to pull myself together. Zombies aren’t real Jack. This isn’t the last of us… or just cause or DayZ or Infected… well you get the point. There were no zombies.

 

I sighed quietly to myself. I’m sure Mark told me about a spare key that Matt didn’t put back once. Now if only I could remember where he said it was. Placing my bags down again I sat on top of it. Where the hell did he keep the stupid key. If he’d just been at the airport, then I wouldn’t have to try and remember something he said in passing last year. God Dammit why didn’t I listen closer? Where do people usually keep keys?

 

Kneeling on the ground I began searching around the porch. Under the mat? Nope. Under the plant pot? That’s… not a key. Note to self: Ask Mark why he has this. Wait a minute. There’s something shiny at the bottom of the hanging basket. As I dug through the soil in the pot I started wondering what the hell got me to this point. Got it! Fiddling with the key I rearranged it so that I could slot it into the door. I knew that I would have to be quiet. If Mark hadn’t been woken by his phone, then he obviously needed his sleep right now.

 

As I opened it the door creaked on it’s hinges. Real subtle Jack. Dragging my bags inside I dumped them in the lounge, there were more important things to do right now, my bags couldn’t get up and go to collect me.

 

“Mark? Are you here?”

 

Of course he’s not going to hear me, I really can be stupid at times.

 

“Chica? Chica chee, Chica choo come here girl. Where are you?”

 

That’s strange… No response. Chica was usually all over anyone who came in the house so where was she now? Something was going on. Nothing was adding up. What if something had happened to them? It wasn’t like Mark not to show up, he would have called or text or something.

 

_Maybe he’s dead? He didn’t want to see you that badly Jacky…_

What the hell was that? Mark’s not dead! He can’t be. Why would I think something like that? Mark does want to see me he does want me here, he helped arrange it for crying out loud. What was wrong with me lately… I’ve been in such a bad mood since the plane maybe it’s just that.

 

As I turned around I saw something glowing green in my peripheral vision. What the fuck! I stumbled to the side and crashed into the kitchen door which banged open against the draining board causing things to fall off with a series of crashes and bangs. Shit, shit, shit, shit. Please tell me everything is in one piece. As I crouched down to check that my clumsiness hadn’t broken anything I heard movement behind me. I turned my head slightly and saw two eyes at my level. I had never heard her growl before but Chica was vicious when she wanted to be. She grabbed my hoodie sleeve in her mouth and growled tugging at me with a strength I didn’t know she possessed. Releasing me she growled deeply and resumed barking.

 

“Chica it’s just me! Calm down okay? You know me… I’m Jack remember”

 

“Who’s there?!” The pup beside me went still at her master’s voice.

 

God does he sound sexy when his voice is this low. Where the fuck did that come from, talk about inappropriate timing.  

 

“I’m armed just put whatever you have down and I won’t have to hurt you.”

 

Armed… I blinked in shock and confusion. The Mark I know, my best friend, he wouldn’t hurt a fly. I backed up against the wall preparing for the worst. It was his voice alright but maybe someone was putting words in his mouth. I fumbled with the cutlery drawer finally landing my hand on the handle of a butchers knife and nicking my wrist in the process. Jaysus! That fucking stung like a son of a bitch. Okay on 3 I’ll look around the corner. It can’t be that bad right?

 

No time to think.

 

1…

 

2…

 

3!

 

I sprung around the corner flooring Mark in the hallway.

 

“WHAT THE FUCK HAVE YOU DONE WITH HIM?”

 

“Jack?”

 

“Mark is gentle” I lowered the knife to his throat in the dark “He wouldn’t hurt anyone. Who are you and where did you get a weapon?”

 

“Jack.”

 

My eyes fell on the baseball bat laying limply in his hand.

 

“I was just trying to act tough. You know I wouldn’t hurt you Jack. You’re right… it’s not who I am…”

 

I lowered the knife moving off of Mark so that he could sit up where I’d tackled him and I blushed lightly as he started straight into my eyes.

 

“Jack your eyes…”

 

“What about them?”

 

Mark shook his head “Forget I said anything, it must have been a trick of the light.”

 

“No. What was it?”

 

“They looked… Forget it.”

 

We stood up and I took the opportunity to brush myself off and place the knife on the counter top beside me. Mark tilted his head at me a concerned look in his eyes. I couldn’t keep eye contact with him. What was wrong with me? This wasn’t normal.

 

“Why did you have a knife?”

 

“I thought someone was controlling you, like with a gun to ya head or something”

 

He burst out laughing.

 

“Why would you think that?”

 

“Well you weren’t at the airport and then you didn’t respond and … I guess I panicked.”

 

“Shit! That’s today”

 

“Hence I’m here dumbass.”

 

“Oh really? I thought you teleported, I mean you got in my home and all.”

 

“I remembered where you said the key was.”

 

“Explains a lot. Want to go up to my recording room and play some Overwatch?”

 

“I thought you promised me some breakfast.”

 

“We’ll go out with the others when it’s actually not a crime to be awake at the time the clocks are showing.”

 

“Fine but steal reaper from me and I’ll shove that bat where the sun doesn’t shine.”

 

I followed the red haired man up to his recording room where I was shocked to find that he already had 2 computers set up.

 

“Wait what?”

 

“I remembered yesterday.”

 

“How sweet of you. How do I know you haven’t jinxed me though?”

 

“Go ahead and check, just let me start that game and then we’ll see if you’re using that as an excuse”

 

“I don’t need excuses. I’m a boss at this game.”

 

“Sure you are.”

 

For the next few hours we fell into some casual chatter as we played round after round of the game and recorded every second of it. Sure it was going to be a nightmare to edit but too much footage was always better than having to record something on the fly because you had nothing prepared.

 

That’s exactly why Mark set this up isn’t it.

 

“You didn’t prepare any videos again did you?”

 

The way he averted his eyes from mine as the sd cards were being hooked up to his computer told me everything.

 

“Do I have to smack your arse on camera Markimoo?”

 

“I’m sure the fans would love it.”

 

“I wouldn’t be complaining.”

 

“Shut up!”

 

The blush slowly rising up Mark’s cheeks was adorable, he always got flustered when it came to talking about how he would find it a million times easier to just prepare videos in advance so that he wasn’t always in a rush to get his latest stuff out. Tyler coming to help him had improved his ability to get at least most videos out on time but it would be a miracle to get Mark to actually think more than 24 hours ahead. Sure it wasn’t the most fun thing in the world having to record in big chunks to get videos ready for while you weren’t recording but it paid off. I knew that people in my fanbase relied on my two videos a day and it was rare if ever that I let them down on my upload times without a good reason or YouTube deciding to be a dick lord.

 

“I’m so sorry that I wasn’t there to meet you Jack.”

 

“It’s okay. My flight was total shite, I would probably have only snapped at you and that would have made everything even more awkard.”

 

“More awkward than having you straddling me with a cleaver to my neck.”

 

“I was going to defend you.”

 

“Keep telling yourself that.”

 

“Just shut up already. You know I forgive you ya big doof. I always will.”


	4. Fools Reunited

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Showering and Breakfast

As I started to wake up I realised I was sleeping in a stupidly awkward position. The hell is going on…. Is… is someone laughing? Stretching I grazed my knuckles against something warm and solid.

 

“OUCH!”

 

Ugh… I’m so tired, the hell did I do last night. Cracking my eyes open just a sliver I saw a silhouette in front of me… Wait what? The laughing got louder.

 

“Do you make a habit of punching people you sleep on?”

 

“Merk?”

 

“Yeah hun”

 

“M’tired”

 

“You two are at it again, bickering like an old married couple” I opened my eyes in shock. I’m so confused. I sat up fidgeting to get comfortable.

 

“Jack that’s really not comfortable you know…” I looked around, Mark was right beside me and we were sat together on his sofa. Wait no. I was sat on his lap! When the fuck did this happen? I bolted up.

 

“Dude what happened?”

 

“I guess we were both still tired and we were just sitting here last I remember, I’m taking it we fell asleep together”

 

“That’s so rooomantic.”

 

“Shut up Tyler” Ooh I like this side of Mark. It’s like he’s being protective over me.

 

“So you’re up now then?”

 

“Yeah I thought 9am was a little more acceptable than 5”

 

“Why did you have to get us up though”

 

“Everyone is waiting next door Jack dear”

 

“When you say everyone?”

 

“Tyler we’ll be through in a few minutes just let Jack wake up. We both know how rough jet lag can be”

 

Awe he’s such a sweetie. Damn I really wish I could jump in the shower right now that should wake me up.

 

“Mark, can I use your shower?”

 

“Go for it. You know where you’re going.”

 

As I headed upstairs I realised that my bags were all in the room that everyone was waiting in. Sighing I realised that I would have to wait until later to freshen up fully. Oh well I was just desperate for a shower right now. Fiddling with the door handle I walked through Mark’s room and into his ensuite bathroom. I would have used the normal one but there was too much of a chance that someone could walk in on me. Shutting the door behind me I stripped off my top feeling my muscles complain at every movement that I made. I can’t wait to go to bed tonight, all these awkward positions were causing me to suffer. I guess that was my body’s way of telling me that I’m meant to sleep on a bed and not elsewhere. Unbuckling my belt, I looked to the bedroom door. No locks, why would there be though? I could have sworn that I heard somebody but maybe I was imagining things. Everyone in the house was my friend though so I’m sure everything would be fine.

 

Toeing off my shoes and pulling down my jeans I caught sight of myself in the mirror on the closet door. Sighing to myself I looked away. I would never look like my friends. I was small and scrawny and they were big and strong. I didn’t fit in and it was what my mind always came back to when I hung out with them. Taking off my boxers I opened the door to the bathroom leaving my clothes in a pile on the floor. I walked inside chuckling to myself as I realised while I had only been in this bathroom once I recognised it from so many of Mark’s videos that it felt like I knew it better than my own. Looking at the edge of the bath I saw a faint red staining. Trust him to have gotten dye everywhere.

 

As I turned around I pulled back the curtain on the small shower. Leaning over I turned the dials and felt the warm water splatter against my arm. Stepping under the stream of the water I breathed out a sigh of relief, that feels amazing. Fifteen minutes later I realised that I had zoned out, the water had felt so damn good that I guess I just lost track of time. I shivered slightly realising that my body had gotten used to the temperature of the water. I guess I will have to shower properly later on tonight. Everyone was probably waiting downstairs wondering if I’d done a runner or fallen back asleep again. Well let’s not keep them waiting any longer.

 

As I stepped out of the shower I felt the cold air hit me like a wall. Jaysus! Maybe I had gotten more used to the water than I thought I had. Wrapping a towel around myself I cracked the door open hoping the bedroom would be warmer. As I peeked my head around the door I thought that I was dreaming. I’m sure I didn’t bring clothes up with me so when did they get there and who laid them out for me?

 

That was a stupid question. Mark was the only one that knew where my stuff was and he was just a big sweetheart. I walked over to the bed picking up the jeans and catching the note which had been stuck in the pocket.

 

‘We’re waiting downstairs for you. Don’t worry about rushing we’re busy arguing about whether waffles or pancakes are better and that is going to be a never ending conversation.’

 

I placed my jeans back onto the bed. Well when he puts it that way.

 

I quickly stepped back into the bathroom dropping the towel to the floor and turning the shower back on. I might as well make the most out of this and get fully clean before we do anything. I quickly scrubbed myself clean and stole some of Mark’s shampoo to stop my green hair fading too fast. I love the smell of this stuff, it’s got a subtle smell of pomegranate and cinnamon and that just makes me feel at home. I’ve always had a thing for cinnamon and I can only guess that it comes from my love of Christmas. Christmas reminds me of when I was little, every year my brothers and I made cinnamon cookies with our grandmother and we didn’t argue or we wouldn’t get any when they were baked.

 

Stepping out of the shower once again I picked up the towel draping it around my waist. I walked back to the bed pulling on some fresh boxers and jeans. Mark did know how to pick an outfit I’ll give him that. Slipping on my shoes I laced them quickly before sliding my t-shirt over my head. God damn it mark you had to pick this one. At least I had only packed the tops I liked, this was one I didn’t wear often because of the way it clung to my abdomen. I should have known he would pick this one given the choice because he spent hours trying to persuade me that I looked amazing and that I should wear it with confidence.

 

Bringing the towel up to my hair I dried it slightly leaving it messy to dry and putting the towel back on the hook. Time to head back downstairs, I think everyone had been waiting long enough, they were probably starving by now. Walking downstairs I bit my lip. It had been so long since I had seen everyone.

 

“Jack, you’re back. We didn’t believe Mark when he said you were upstairs. It was starting to look like you’d gone off on an adventure all on your own.”

 

“Not yet Wade. I thought I’d come down and settle this breakfast argument first.”

 

“It’s not an argument Jack.” Tylers face fell.

 

“Don’t look so upset I’m only joking. Why don’t we go somewhere that serves both things and then we could settle this argument by trying both?”

 

“I’m up for that.” Bob and Mark’s eagerness made Jack smile. The group went outside to the cars parked on the driveway and split into two groups ready to go to the restaurant.

 

“Shotgun”

 

“Tyler no! I called it before we left the house.”

 

“You want to fight me Jack”

 

“Don’t want you to embarrass yourself so just give up you know I’d win easily.”

 

Mark laughed at our little argument. The man was beautiful when he laughed and I knew this was going to be a fun morning. When we left I guess we really hadn’t thought about what the time was. Once we left the immediate neighbourhood where the red head lived the traffic was almost complete gridlock. Well shit. This might not be as straight forward as it looked like it was going to be. While the restaurant wasn’t all that far away it was going to take forever in this sort of traffic. Mark looked over at me defeated.

 

“Sorry to ruin your first morning here like this Jackaboy”

 

“Nothing’s been ruined. There’s nothing you can do about the traffic it’s like the weather completely out of our control and on the plus side at least the weather is all blue skies and…” At the exact same moment I decided to compliment the American weather I think the sky realised I wasn’t used to it. The heavens above us opened and some of the heaviest rain LA had had in a long time poured down onto our cars.

 

Unlike back home, nobody here was used to driving in anything other than blazing sunlight so as a group we decided it would be safer to pull over and wait for the weather to clear up again.

 

“I’m sure it won’t last that long. It’s never like this honestly I think you just attract rain.”

 

“What are you saying Mark?”

 

“You attract rain, you know you’re so hot that it feels the need to put you out all of the time” I cracked up laughing, god he tried too hard at times. I guess that’s what made him such a good friend. He was always ready to make others feel better even if he wasn’t on top form himself. His friends always came first.


	5. Culture Shock

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You do Irish so much lately

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who has supported this story so far, if you've read it, left kudos or left a comment, I appreciate all of it and I hope you continue to enjoy what I write.

Two hours after the rain had started it didn’t look like it was going to let up any time soon. Everyone had made the most of our time together. The others had pulled up close beside where Mark had stopped and we had put the seats down flat in the back of the car and popped open the boot. Although it was a little cramped with the five of us in one car we were mostly glad to be out of the rainstorm. Tyler had surprised everyone when he had pulled cards against humanity seemingly out of nowhere but it had been good to help break the uneasy tension that seemed so uncommon within the group.

 

“I can’t believe you guys can’t drive in the rain.” I laughed in disbelief “If I couldn’t then I would only be able to walk for years at a time. The feckin weather in Ireland would grind LA to a halt easily if this is how you handle it.”

 

“It’s not something we see a lot man.” Wade looked at me amused. “We’re used to the sun, a rain storm gets everyone to a window, the amount of Instagram pictures that I see people put up of rain is ridiculous”

 

“Is that more or less pictures than Mark puts up of Chica on a daily basis?” I asked giving a side glance to Mark and getting exactly the response that I had been expecting. The man was fuming and bright red at the same time, trying to stutter out an explination for his Instagram activities. “Don’t look so offended I never said I minded all the pictures, she is adorable after all. It’s just a shame you have to post all those pictures of the red head guy, it’s like you’ve got a thing for him or something.”

 

Deciding to give the weather the time it needed to stop being a massive dick to them they continued to play their game getting more and more confident as time passed. Hours after they had started the rain was showing the smallest attempt at lightening enough for them to get moving and go out for what now they might as well agree was lunch.

 

“Shall we make this the last round then?” Bob asked. Everyone nodded in agreement. As much as this had been fun to start with and it definitely had been nice to just be able to be themselves and laugh with no camera and no expectations, the time had been getting on and no one had eaten at all so far that day.

 

“I believe it’s my turn” I said. “Hopefully we can send this game off with a bang.” Clearing my throat, I sat up straighter putting on a blank facial expression and moving my body so that I looked deadly serious. “What was the inspiration for my latest successful business venture?”

 

Mark’s laughter filled the small space and he held his cards close to his chest. I bit my lip to keep myself from joining his laughing fit. “Are you okay there Markimoo?” I questioned. He didn’t respond verbally but kept giggling to himself as he placed the card down on the pile with the others.

 

“Okay then. The inspiration for my latest successful business venture was Darth Vader” Marks laughter did not cease. “Your card better live up to the expectations you’re setting Mark. The inspiration for my latest successful business venture was Crucifixion. The inspiration for my latest successful business venture was Poor life choices or… God Damn it dude this is basically blasphemy!”

 

“Does it live up to your expectations?” Mark tilted his head sniggering and trying to hold back from laughing once again.

 

“Well you are MEANT to be offensive so I guess I can let you get away with it.” I noticed that everyone else just looked plain confused. Oh right, they can’t see the card. “The inspiration for my latest successful business venture was A sober Irishman who doesn’t care for potatoes the blasphemous asshole!” I slammed the card into the middle in mock anger. “Well I don’t see how crucifixion could be a successful venture and poor life choices is a bit too true man. I don’t trust Darth Vader so I guess I have to go with the rehabilitation programme.”

 

 

Mark took the black card from my hand and started on one of the most elaborate celebrations I had ever seen anyone compose.

 

Once he had calmed down and we had tidied up the cards and put the car back to how it had been before we split back into our two travelling groups. Mark and myself in one car and Bob, Wade and Tyler in the other. While we could have fitted into one car if it had just been us after we had eaten we intended to go and do some recording outside, in the real world. With the amount of equipment Mark had suggested we bring with us, both vehicles were packed to bursting with everything we could possibly need for the videos that we still had yet to plan. As we pulled back onto the road the rain really began to ease up to the point that it was barely even there anymore. Both of the drivers were happy and ready to go so we continued our journey to a restaurant that Tyler had been dying to go back to since Mark had first introduced him to it. Jack couldn’t pronounce the name but it was a family owned small business that Mark just so happened to know the owners of.

 

“So how did you get to know them?” I blurted out.

 

“Get to know who?” Mark scrunched up his brows in confusion.

 

“The owners of this restaurant.” I didn’t honestly care that much but I figured Mark would love the fact that I was interested in something that to anyone else would be small and unimportant.

 

“It’s a funny story actually, I grew up with them as our neighbours. They were family friends for a long time and then when my mom and dad separated they just sort of vanished. By pure luck I was actually lost when I found the restaurant and they recognised me almost straight away. It took me a while to remember them but they understood. I wasn’t exactly old when I last saw them so only having that vague feeling you know someone was fine by them. Once we started talking again I made sure to catch up with them on a regular basis and when my mother came out to visit earlier in the year I took her out here and she was shocked to say the least but the look on her face was priceless.”

 

If I was being honest I didn’t hear half of what Mark had just said I had been too busy thinking about everything that the rain had allowed us to plan. For once we weren’t just charging in head first, of course for everyone but Mark and I that was a normal course of action but plans are for losers not bosses like Jacksepticeye. I still managed to succeed at what I did even if I went about it differently.

 

Before I really registered that we had pulled off of the main highway that we were on Mark had parked at the side of a quaint looking cottage like building. This was nothing like I was expecting. As we collectively got out of the cars I stuck close to Mark. He knew this place best so I was excited to try it out. Finding a table wasn’t an easy feat. What looked like a quite village house from the outside was a bustling family pub on the inside.

 

“Ya know this is basically every pub we have in Ireland right” Mark looked disheartened “Not that I’m complaining, the food is pretty much a safe bet I’m just curious to see how America have changed the traditional British pub.”

 

As we sat at the table I realised my idea of this place couldn’t have been more off. The food was pretty much a mish mash of every country from China, Italy and Australia to Nigeria, Mexico and Brazil. After staring blankly at the menu for a good few minutes I came to the conclusion that I would be better off playing it safe with a nice pasta dish as I had no idea what many of the things were although seeing them may have been a different story. Asking the others what they wanted I stood up to go and order for our table and Mark was close behind me clearly wanting to speak with the owners as he came here so often this was probably normal. Once I started reciting our order to the waitress Mark’s presence drifted further away as his attention was captured by an elderly looking gentleman who hugged him like he was his son. Guessing that it was one of the owners I left him to it, as the waitress turned to get the drinks I felt a hand on my shoulder. The man who moments before had been slumped at the bar was suddenly hanging off of me his hands cupping my arse.

 

“C-Can I help you?” I stuttered out.

 

“I’m sure you can beautiful.”

 

“Look no offense but I’m not into guys and even if I was, getting drunk and draping yourself across me like you are currently doing would be one of the least appealing ways to get my attention possible.” I bit my lip hard as he leant closer to my ear.

 

“Listen sweetheart, not many people like you I get it but just rel- ARGH”

 

Without a second thought I snapped his wrist. I had no idea what had compelled me to do it but it was exciting. Wait… exciting… Before I could ponder my choice of emotions Mark was beside me an inhuman growl coming from him as he knelt beside the man and punched him solidly in the face. What the fuck had gotten into him? I grabbed his arm to turn him towards me. “Mark?” I drew back panicked. Mark’s eyes were gleaming with a crimson and black glaze.

 

“Not Quite darling.”


	6. Trying to get you back on track

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was really feeling the Dark/Anti vibes today. Don't hate me too much! :D

I tried hard to keep my breathing level. Nothing was wrong. It must have been all in my head. Right?

 

“Mark” My voice wavered “We need to get you some air.” He looked me dead in the eyes with his head tilted. What was I planning to do if he refused? It’s not like I could move him if he didn’t want to go anywhere. “Wait here.” He looked down at his hands and smirked seeing the body on the floor. I reigned in my shaking limbs and walked over to our group of friends who were none the wiser to the situation that was unfolding at the bar “Hey guys, I think I left something at Mark’s. We’ll be back soon I just need to grab it it’s important and well.”

 

“We understand Jack.” Tyler said looking me dead in the eyes. Was this not the first time that Mark had been like this if it wasn’t it would be Tyler that noticed. They spent so much time together that it would be almost impossible for him not to notice a change in someone that he was so close to.  Without another word I turned and headed back to the bar I crouched beside Mark and placed my hands on his shoulders. Once again those eyes met mine. God it was difficult not to get creeped out when he stared at me it was like he was looking straight into my soul and at this point I wasn’t so sure that he wasn’t.

 

“Hey where are your sunglasses?” I asked quietly “I’m sure you were wearing some when we left the house what happened to them?” For a moment as we sat there I didn’t think I was going to get a response why would I at this point? He stared straight at me.  “You can tell me you know it’s not like I’m going to tell anyone” I chuckled quietly to myself, who would really care about where Mark’s sunglasses were other than perhaps a few more obsessive fans.  “Now where did you put them?” Mark raised a shaky arm and pointed at the door “Son of a Bitch! They’re in the car aren’t they? Well there goes my plan to keep your eyes hidden from the people in this place I guess we’ll have to do this the old fashioned way. Close your eyes and put your hands on my shoulders, we’re going out of the side door.”

 

As we both stood up I felt the weight of his hands resting on my shoulders. At least he wasn’t trying to do anything to hurt me I half expected him to strangle me after I saw the way he dealt with the gentleman who had been talking to me moments before. No he wouldn’t hurt me I had to remember at the end of the day he was still my best friend no matter what had just happened. Something was wrong with him and I had to help.

“Just a little bit further. Don’t go running off now.” I wasn’t sure whether his dark chuckle should’ve scared me or reminded me that my friend was still in there somewhere. Stepping out into the light outside my stomach grumbled in complaint. I still hadn’t eaten today but there were more important things to do first. “You can let go of me now” I expected him to  let go, run away, bolt but the last thing I was expecting him to do was pull me closer. “Mark what the hell are ya doin’? You know who I am right?”

 

“I know who you are Jackaboy but I don’t think you’re listening to a word I’ve said. My name is not mark I’m not your friend.” His eyes started straight at me unblinking.

 

“You’re freaking me out man you are Mark you’re my best friend. Who the hell else would you be? You’re in his body, you’re living his life, hell this is his car behind you and I’m sure it’s got your stupid sunglasses in.” My breath caught. I wasn’t sure what was going on and voicing the fact that this… this man in front of me was my best friend it somehow made it more real to say it out loud. If he wasn’t my best friend then I had no idea what was going on. He meant so much to me, we had done so much together, he was my best friend here and now. Nobody else.

 

 No matter what he said I wasn’t going to back down he was Mark.

 

“You’re stubborn. As much as I kind of like it it’s not how I want you to be. There’s no need to be scared of me you understand? I’m not here to hurt you Sean”

 

“Don’t call me that.” There was a bitter taste in my mouth as I spoke back.

 

“What is it a little too close to home? A bit too real?” His laugh echoed in an impossible way. Before I knew what was happening he grabbed me by the collar and pulled me down to his level sat on the tarmac by the car.  The more I tried to get away from him the tighter her held me, he had no sense of when he was causing pain so I figured I should go along with what he wanted before he pulled too tight. There is no chance of me getting out of this otherwise. Despite me desperate situation I couldn’t help but hope Mark was okay this thing whatever it was had come from nowhere there no chance of him having seen it coming was there? He’d been in the dark just like us.

 

The creatures spoke in a dark drawl “You know I can read minds right I don’t care about your little friend here I care about what he’s going to help me accomplish what I can accomplish in this body that I never could on my own.”

 

I froze up unsure what to say. This was freaking me out, sure I was used to stuff like this happening in video games but it wasn’t supposed to happen in real life. Real life was meant to be understandable. If you took a step back and tried to work out the cause and effect of real life you would be able to with no problems. This was out of place, whatever was going on with Mark it wasn’t something that could be explained away and that made it hard to come to terms with. I wasn’t sure I could do in the long run but for now I just had to snap him out of it, get him into a state where he understood what was going on again where we could go back in sit at the table with our friends, eat some lunch and pretend like everything was fine. Okay so it wouldn’t last for long but at least we could pretend for a little that nothing was happening like we were normal.

 

Before I had made a decision as to what to do my head started pounding. This wasn’t the time to get a headache. I had to snap out of it keep my mind on track Mark needed me. “Mark? Can you hear me? Look if you can I need you to be strong… Whatever is going on you need to fight, we can get you some help tomorrow but for now please just try for me. We can get through it together I promise”

 

“Jack…” The way his voice broke tore my heart apart. This wasn’t how he was meant to sound but at least he was back.

 

“Let me see your eyes. I need to know it’s over.”

 

“What’s over? When did we come out here…? I don’t understand. Please Jack. Please just tell me what happened.” Mark’s eyes were back to their normal colour. Whether he had heard me or if it was pure coincidence he was back and that’s all I needed to know right now. My next step was to figure out how to keep him here. Sure he was here for now but the way things were heading who knows how long he would be himself for.

 

“I promise when we get back to yours tonight I’ll explain everything. It’s not important right now the guys are probably wondering if we’re comin’ back it’s been such a long time. I don’t suppose you remember anything that happened in there do you?” He silently shook his head at me. “Right. you might have a shock. Just stick with me okay?” I fought my own internal voice telling myself that being around friends would make everything better. I of course had no way to prove that but as I had no way to disprove it either I figured I might as well take the risk.

 

Standing up I took the taller man by his arm. ”Ready?” Once again he nodded, hopefully people would just think that he was quiet because he was shocked he hurt someone… but they hadn’t seen. Shite. Well it wasn’t that hard to explain it’ll be fine.

 

As I half dragged Mark back in to our waiting friends I felt something slither inside my skull.

 

The fuck was that.

 

Choosing to ignore it I helped Mark get reseated at our table.

 

“Sorry we were out so long. Lost track of the time ya know how it goes?”

 

Tyler looked between Mark and myself. “Yeah I get it, anything you want to tell us Sean an-“

 

“Don’t call me that!” I replied quicker than I had intended and Tyler backed off a little. I didn’t mean for it to have sounded quite as defensive as it had come across but it was a sore nerve since that thing had thought it was okay to call me that.

 

_Didn’t you like him?_

I looked around me in panic. “Who said that?”

 

My friends looked at me like I was crazy.

 

“Jack calm down, do you need a minute?” Bob looked concerned.

 

_Going outside sounds like a wonderful idea. Don’t you want to have some alone time with me?_

Before I got the chance to reply everything around me started to blur. I stood up from the table pushing my chair back against the wall. The sound of my heartbeat got louder.

 

“Jack?” My head felt like it was going to explode. I couldn’t register who was talking I just knew that I couldn’t respond.

 

My chest gripped like a vice, I felt the blood drain from my face and my heart felt like it had stopped. My vision went black and everything was silent until the voice spoke again. It slithered around my brain knowing just how to make me listen.

 

_Come on you’ll enjoy it._


	7. A new perspective

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So my brain was still in a dark place hence this happened.... Enjoy
> 
> Warning:Blood, Gore, Horror, Murder... you know the stuff the warnings promise.

As I opened my eyes the bright light around me burned. Where were my friends? Where was I? I tried to sit up but none of my limbs would listen to me. I fought hard only to find myself bound tight in my own body. I stayed quiet, holding my breath to listen to what was going on around me. The room was almost silent, the double glazed glass concealing the symphony of sounds that was going on outside. I wasn’t in the restaurant anymore. I strained my ears trying to listen closer but I couldn’t hear a thing. What on earth was going on? Mark never forgot things, then there was the business with him seeing something in my eyes, then I saw something in his… and now this. I wished that I could at least get some answers. Maybe I was still jet lagged. I assumed that my friends just thought I needed to sleep, they were probably calmer about this than I ever could be but that was always going to be the way. They were able to be calm, they weren’t living out this nightmare.

 

Deciding that trying to move wasn’t doing me any good I laid still. Maybe if I closed my eyes I could wake up to find out this had all been a dream. Not a good one but at least something that I wouldn’t have to deal with.

 

In my peripheral vision I saw the light gradually fading from the room. Was this what we were waiting for?

 

As the darkness settled in the room I heard movement outside of the door. A figure appeared in the doorway pushing the door back against the wall at the objection of it’s hinges. I shivered as he entered the room. I didn’t know why.

 

“Long time no see.” The creature hissed out approaching the bed. “I should have known it was you when I saw the way you treated me. You didn’t run. Everyone else runs away but you never have. I don’t know how much you remember but no one is any the wiser as to our identities… for now at least we’re still a secret or should I say a surprise.” I tried in vain to move my head as the man circled me with a predatory air to him. “You know; it’s not going to do you any good to fight him? You’ll just see things that you’ll regret. Let him have control Jack and it’ll be over soon.” He came closer perching on the edge of the bed and taking my face in his hands “I promise.”

 

Against all of my better judgement I listened to him, I relaxed muscles that I didn’t realise I had been holding tense and it felt just like falling asleep.

 

_See? When you work with me it doesn’t have to hurt._

That voice, was it in my head? I panicked for a moment before realising it was futile. Maybe my friends wouldn’t have been far off if they had thought I was crazy. Hearing voices. I’m sure that’s a sign of madness.

 

“You didn’t have to freak him out you know?” The voice that left my mouth wasn’t mine.

 

“You know I enjoyed it, you wouldn’t take that away from me right?” Dark’s eyes shined as he spoke despite the lack of light in the room. Before I could hear anymore my world went black once more.

“I take it you’ve done the planning?” Anti sat up running a hand through his hair.

 

“As much as I hate it I have.” Dark leaned in close.

 

“Then shall we get to work?”

 

The two changed quickly donning dark clothing that was less likely to draw attention to them and left the house. Dark twirled Mark’s car keys around his finger.

 

“Do you know what you’re doing? Driving this thing I mean?” Anti questioned.

 

“As if you’d be any better. I know what I’m doing so don’t question it okay? Just enjoy the kill and we’ll see how observant the police really are tomorrow” Dark got into the car and started the engine. “What are you waiting for?” Anti scrambled to get in and was left fiddling with his belt as Dark started driving through the streets of LA.

 

The drive passed in relative silence and Dark pulled the car up at the roadside of a quiet residential street.

 

“We’re going into someone’s home?” Anti asked a confused tone to his voice.

 

“No idiot, I just thought it wouldn’t be a smart idea to park at the crime scene. What do you think?” Dark glared at me like I was a child.

 

“Just because I don’t know what you’ve planned doesn’t mean you have the right to push me around ya arsehole!” Anti turned away from him his eyes glowing menacingly.

 

“Come on we don’t have much time.” Dark’s voice was deeper than Mark’s and the soft reverberations caught Anti off guard, how long had it been since they had both been in the same realm together? Sure their forms changed but every time there was always something there. Like a challenge that couldn’t be beat the rivalry between the two was unyielding and came back to haunt them no matter what they did.

 

Following the taller man through side streets the last thing Anti was expecting was to come out onto a brightly lit street that was the heart of the weekend nightlife for the city.

 

“Have you lost your mind?” Anti hissed pulling the other man into a shop alcove. “As much as I would love to slaughter each and every one of these people someone is bound to recognise us dressed up like this.”

 

“Just bide your time. I never intended for us to stay in the spotlight. I’d rather stick to the shadows any day. Nobody has to know we were even here. Just play it the way I planned okay and stop questioning me like I’ve never done this before” Dark was seething with rage but Anti was reluctant to back down. Before he could retort Dark pushed him against the wall. “Keep your mouth shut or you won’t get to touch anyone tonight understood?”

 

Anti nodded in resignation glaring harshly at the man and rubbing his neck as he was placed back onto his feet. Following the man for five more minutes Anti was beginning to get restless, they hadn’t come out here for a good time, they had come to satiate their blood lust before the humans noticed them again. A firm tug on his sleeve pulled Anti out of his thoughts and into a side alley where a couple were fighting, as the pair stuck to the shadows the door that the two had left the club through slammed shut. No escape. Just how they liked it.

 

Anti grabbed Dark’s arm firmly, their eyes meeting in a silent agreement. The boy was his. While Dark preferred to use brute force and not leave the option Anti enjoyed it when he could see people thinking they could get away. Above everything he enjoyed playing with his food. While Dark used his victims as a twisted type of stress relief Anti enjoyed watching his prey beg for mercy, beg for him to stop, beg for death. It was no fun if they didn’t put up a fight and the girl looked weak, she was heavily intoxicated and could barely stay up on her feet, she would be a boring catch for Anti but he was sure Dark would enjoy watching the light fade from her eyes no matter the situation that preceded it.

 

Eyes meeting once again they nodded to each other, now was as good of a time as any. Before Dark had even left the floor Anti had the man by his throat pinning him to the wall and laughing quietly to himself. “Why hello darling? I couldn’t help overhearing your little disagreement and I’m fairly sure I can help.” The woman was backing away from the pair terrified, little did she know that she was walking straight into Dark’s waiting arms. “You want the argument over? Yes?” The man nodded staring at the scrawny guy in front of him, the last thing he wanted was to look pathetic in front of his chick but maybe this guy presented a chance to impress her and win her back. “I can help.” Anti saw the man was waiting for his chance to fight back and who was he to deny it to him. He loosened his grip enough to give the man room to move, pretending like nothing had happened he pressed on. “I’m an expert when it comes to things like this you know. I’ve got a lot of experience…”

 

The man pushed off of the wall and threw Anti to the ground looming over him. He was shaking and Anti knew that he thought he had won. That was until a muffled scream was heard.

 

“L-let her go…” The man’s eyes welled up. “Please! We may have been fighting but I love her I…” He was cut off by anti flipping him over and turning the tables pressing down hard with one hand on his shoulder and the other on a blade at his neck. Anti didn’t take his eyes off the man beneath him, he loved to watch his victims suffer.

 

Leaning in closer he moved his hand onto his victim’s chest. Pushing down he heard the sickening crack of the man’s ribs. Smirking he pressed the knife against the man’s throat until blood bubbled on his skin. Holding back, he waited for Dark’s next move.

 

He heard a thump and a muffled scream again listening closely and enjoying hearing Dark shatter her skull against the brick wall. Bang. Bang. Bang. Bang. God anti couldn’t wait much longer. The man beneath him was struggling desperate to get free but he was no match for the man on top of him. Anti sliced the man’s throat open and leaned in close drinking some of the blood down like a vampire. The man gurgled and struggled less as his lungs began to fill with his own blood. Anti in no way had to do it to survive but it was addicting.

 

 After he had first tasted blood he couldn’t get enough, as if his urge to kill wasn’t strong enough before his newly acquired taste urged him on. He used the knife to carve ancient symbols into the man’s chest enjoying his fading gurgles of pain before licking the blood from the knife. The symbols were something he liked to add, a mark of his kill. It also had the benefit of causing the victims to cry out in pain. Just the way that he liked them. At his merciless hands.


	8. Breaking into pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Shorter chapters: Today's writing was a bit of a two parter

Dark was the first to snap out of his trance like state. He knew they needed to get going not only to keep out of the police’s way but also because he knew they wouldn’t have control of their bodies much longer. Although they had only had control for a short period of time Dark could already feel his ungrateful host fighting with him for control. “Anti.” His voice was cracking; they’d have to make this fast. Anti looked up at him blood running down his chin his eyes gleaming with a mischievous light.  Tilting his head he realised their time was up and he stood reluctantly dropping the man in his arms to the ground.

 

“I hope you learned your lesson” he glared down at the unmoving body.  
  
“He’s dead. I think that should do it” Dark turned to Anti and grabbed him by the upper arm. “Come on we need to move” he cut anti off before he had even started his questions. “Forget the bodies. This far out it will look like an animal attack. Trust me it’s more important that we get back to the car right now.”

 

Without further argument the two men headed back through the busy streets. Anti looked around in pure confusion. They were both drenched in blood, why was nobody paying attention “Aren’t they concerned” Anti  looked at the people that the pair were walking past.

 

“They probably think it’s a costume. They have no reason to be suspicious and so they’re not going to assume the worst when they don’t have to. Their human brains are adorable at times. They know they won’t be able to process it and when they need to remember who we are later they won’t have paid any attention to who we are so we’ll be safe from prosecution.” Dark walked over and unlocked the car holding the door open for his partner in crime. Slamming the door sharply Dark quickly walked around the car and slid quickly into his seat snapping on his seatbelt. “Hold on tight.”

 

Dark put the car into gear and took off at speed. He hadn’t been kidding around when he said that they needed to hurry up and he was certainly taking his own word seriously.

 

What seemed like moments later Dark skidded the car into the driveway of Mark’s house. The pair left the car quickly and entered the house through the garage stripping off their blood soaked clothing and placing them in a garbage bag that Dark found in the corner of the room.  
  
“Don’t look a minute” Anti was blushing bright red.

 

“Really? Dude there is nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s not like I haven’t seen you shirtless before.” Dark snickered at the other man’s discomfort.   
  
Anti ran from the room and Dark followed him at a slower pace. They were both exhausted and Dark knew that once they woke up again they would no longer be in control. Sighing he headed for the bedroom lying face down on the soft mattress. Maybe if I just rest my eyes for a minute he thought to himself and in minutes he was asleep. Anti pulled off the remainder of his clothing and laid in bed beside Dark. Maybe this would be fun with the two of them together once again.


	9. Picking up the Pieces

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Second of today's shorter chapters.
> 
>  
> 
> Sorry if today's stuff wasn't very good. I was struggling with what to write and I barely slept last night.

The first thing Jack noticed when he woke up was that his head was thumping even more than before. What the hell was happening? I tried desperately to recall what I last remembered doing. How had I gotten here?

 

I remembered being in the restaurant with our friends and then… Well I was fairly certain that we had had lunch but after that… All my mind showed me were some fuzzy vague images.

 

Mark and I must have come back to his and I guess we were talking and fell asleep in bed together. I looked down that had to be it… wait was I NAKED?! I jumped up bolting for the bathroom and pulling the bedsheet with me. As I slammed the door behind me I heard disgruntled murmurs from the other room. It was probably Mark wondering where the hell his blanket had gone running off to, but I couldn’t worry about right now.

 

I stepped closer to the sink leaning over it and splashing my face with cold water. It would all just turn out to be a misunderstanding. It had to be. Splashing my face a couple more times I saw the water running down the drain was tinged red. Huh? I looked up and saw my reflection in the mirror. Without a second to take in what I was seeing I was doubled over the toilet bowl puking my guts up. My mouth tasted like copper and bile. The blood that had come from god only knew where coated my mouth and was smeared down my chin and neck. Coughing weakly I threw up again. Please let this be animal blood.

 

From the other room I heard faint noises as Mark stumbled around in an effort to get dressed. Had I bitten him? Surely he would have mentioned something. I felt like some kind of vampire. I sobbed quietly resting my head on the side of the toilet bowl. If I moved I knew I would be sick again but eventually I had to find the strength to wash my mouth out. Feeling my senses become overwhelmed again I closed my eyes screaming out in horror when instead of peace I was met with images of a man being killed by my own hands. How messed up was I? Was this a memory or a fantasy and even then… who was the guy? I didn’t remember having seen him before in my life. Why would I think about doing something so twisted to someone I didn’t even know? It made no sense.

 

Groaning in pain I moved slightly unconsciously responding to the desperate knocks on the bathroom door.

 

“Jack? Jack are you okay? Did something happen? You can tell me you know we’re friends man we’ve been through so much together I’m sure nothing you could say would shock me” Mark opened the door pushing it gently back until is knocked gently into my side.

 

“Holy shit! I’m covered in blood! Jack are you okay what’s happening?” Mark crouched down beside me and the smell of dried blood got stronger. Unable to hold it back I threw up once again into the toilet and then leaned gently into his grip as he pulled me to him protectively. “Why are we covered in blood? Jesus it’s all over you Jack…” Mark ran his hands gently through my hair. “What do you reckon happened?” I didn’t reply, what did I think had happened. It was a good question one I didn’t quite have the answers to quite yet. Something had happened we both knew that much but neither of us had a full enough memory to fill the other one in.

 

After a few moments more I pulled gently away from Mark. “I need ta shower and to wash my mouth out” I looked up at him “Could you grab me some clothes from my suitcase. I won’t be long and then you can get cleaned up to” Mark stood up and left without a word. He was in shock, we both were and it’s not something that you are ever prepared for. I stood up slowly.

 

Careful to avoid getting it dirtier than it already was I placed the bed sheet to the side of the bathroom before climbing into the shower. My movements felt stiff and I could feel the dried blood clinging to my skin, strangling me. I showered methodically making sure that I used more shower gel than I usually would, I would be able to feel the blood for a long time and I wanted it to be in my head and nowhere else. Standing under the hot water my mind panicked. I dropped to the floor as more pieces of last night came back, the man was holding me down and I had flipped him over with an inhumane strength I didn’t even realise that I had. Fuck. Something was seriously wrong with me. I needed help.

 

Struggling back to my feet I began carding my hands through my sweat soaked hair I washed out the tangles and dirt that stood out against it’ pale colour. Sure green was a great colour but tinged with blood it didn’t look so good… my stomach flipped. Pouring shampoo into my hands I massaged it through my hair and finished up quickly turning off the shower with little thought about what I was doing. I wrapped a towel around my waist and grabbed another rubbing my hair vigorously before hanging it back up. Walking out into Mark’s room I saw that he had brought up my entire case. What a sweetheart. I dug through my mountains of clothing trying to find something comfortable to try and soften the awkwardness of the conversation to come.

 

As I searched I heard water running from the other room. Of course, Mark must be in the main bathroom. Why had he let me use his? Maybe I had looked worse than I felt, that was probably it.

 

Pulling on some skinny jeans and a loose t-shirt I headed downstairs and sat patiently on the sofa. I was not looking forward to this. As the minutes ticked by I became ultra-aware of the noises around me. Was I nervous or did I just want to get this over with and pretend like nothing had happened?

 

Before I could decide myself Mark walked down the stairs looking a little dishevelled in loose jeans and his favourite flannel shirt. He glanced over at me and walked closer

 

“Mark” I struggled to keep my voice level as he sat down across from me. “I guess we should talk about what happened. About what we know and about what we do now.”


	10. Three in the Afternoon

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The boys talk about what they know and try and decide whether they should turn themselves in.

“We should go to the police.” Even though I knew that it was the right thing to do, part of me wasn’t expecting him to be so upfront about it. I knew deep down that if I hadn’t been involved I would be waiting impatiently for the bastards to give themselves up but now I felt a bit of sympathy for them.

 

Well it wasn’t sympathy for what they had done. They had committed horrible crimes, most of what made the news was murder or mass killings and nobody deserved pity for being able to do such awful things to other human beings.

 

_You did them._

The voice was back and… why did it have to choose now to be right? Up until now it said things that I could just brush off but this time it was right I had killed the guy with my own bare hands. The images my mind had shown me proved to me that I had done it. I couldn’t deny it. While I might not have known what was going on or been present and conscious when it had happened it had and whatever this thing was it had used my body. It would be me the police would come looking for and arrest if they found out the truth. Maybe I was the monster. I hadn’t thought about it like that.

 

“Jack we have to turn ourselves in.” Mark reached out for my hand taking it gently in his. “We’ll go down together, neither of us would be facing it alone.”

 

“We have no proof that it was us.” While I knew this was strictly true, we didn’t have anything that would hold up to prosecute us in court, we pretty much knew what had happened most of the night between the two of us.

 

“You haven’t been seeing them? I saw you there… I thought you would have…” He looked away unsure of whether I was on the same page as him.

 

“I saw them Mark. The same as you did I assume but through my eyes. I didn’t see you but I was a bit… “

 

“Busy?” he finished for me. I nodded. “How are you feeling by the way?”

 

“Better… I don’t do well with blood. Never have.” Mark nodded at my sympathetically. “It’s probably not too good for you to go around drinking it anyway”

 

I shivered and pressed my lips together tightly. Damn it I could still taste it. “I’m sure I didn’t choose to.”

 

“You weren’t forced” He kept his reply short.

 

“Are you mad at me?” I asked.

 

“You killed that guy.” Mark’s glare pierced through me.

 

“And you killed his girlfriend.”

 

“You saw it”

 

“I didn’t have to. You were covered in blood and I didn’t see you touch the guy so simple deduction really.” My mouth was dry.

 

“How can you accuse me of murder so easily? I saw what I saw and it wasn’t something we’d even think about normally… right?”

 

“You’re asking me if I’ve ever thought about killing someone?” Under normal circumstances I would have thought Mark had gone crazy but I had begun to realise that it wasn’t actually that much of a bad question to ask considering what we had been through. “No. I haven’t.” My words came out a little harsher than I had intended but I needed him to know that I was just as scared and confused as he was and that I wasn’t just a raging psychopath. “So what do you remember?”

 

“Not much… but it’s bad.” Mark’s voice was on the verge of breaking and I sat there patiently staring straight back at him knowing just how hard this was for him right now. “I saw.. I saw her staring back at me, she was speaking. I don’t know what she said though.”  He looked at his hands. “If I had to guess. She was begging me to spare her life. I’m kind of glad I didn’t hear it.”

 

“And that’s what you call bad?” He nodded. “Shit. Your night sounds tame in comparison to what I saw.”

 

He looked up at me as I continued speaking. “You can stop me if you want to. I… I saw myself on the floor. The man he… He was on top of me and the next thing I know I flipped him over. It wasn’t even a struggle.”

 

“He was twice your size. At least.” I put a hand on Mark’s arm to silence him.

 

“I’m not finished. I watched myself cut him open, I saw the blood I saw the fear on his face and I watched the terror fill his eyes.”

 

“Jack… I had no idea.”

 

I shook my head. “I don’t want to hear it.”

 

“This doesn’t change anything you know. It’s still the right thing to go to the police.” Mark pulled me in close as if he was trying to protect me from what we had unknowingly done.

 

“I know.”

 

“Then let’s go now” He made to get up.

 

“They won’t believe us.” I bit my lip hard. “We could tell them the story a thousand times and they wouldn’t believe us, do you know how hard it is for people to believe the crazy story. It’s an easy way out of a horrible fate and the both of us having the same problem on the same night. We both killed people together on the same night and you think they’ll believe us if we say we don’t know what happened that we blacked out? We’re fucked Mark. If we go to the police we’re fucked.”

 

“Why do you have to be so negative about it?” He looked straight into my eyes.

 

“I’m being realistic ya idjit. I don’t want to go to jail. They don’t know it was us. How about if they ask us we tell them but… if they don’t… we could pretend like nothing happened. Like everything was normal.” I stared at the American waiting for a reaction.

 

“What if we hurt our friends?” I hadn’t thought about that. I don’t think I’d forgive myself if that ever was the case.

 

“We don’t spend time alone with anyone. And we certainly don’t split up. We should watch each other’s backs.” I suddenly sounded so confident. I don’t know when this had started but I felt like I had a plan now. Like nothing was going to stop me… unless we were arrested of course. This way we would be able to put everything behind us and move on. We could still have lives. Any other way we wouldn’t have lives, we’d be locked up or put in a straightjacket or dead. I had no idea if my plan actually stood any chance of working but I was willing to try anything to avoid going to jail. I hated the whole idea of it.

 

“If you think that would work.” He looked at me with so much trust in his eyes I hesitated.

 

“I know it will.” I heard a deep laughter in my head and my smile faltered before it had even graced my face. It had to. “Are you hungry?”

 

“A bit why?” Mark frowned at me.

 

“I thought we could order a pizza or something, I still don’t feel great but thanks to the uhr… result of my vampiric ways my stomach is rather empty now.” I looked at him putting on my best puppy dog eyes. “Please…?”

 

Mark stood up sighing “Fine… let me just find a menu off of one of the better places. We don’t want you getting sick and blaming me now do we?” As he left the room I laughed to myself quietly, hopefully this was all going to be behind us now. Our temporary madness seemed, for the most part, to be over and we were closer than we’d ever been before. Maybe everything that was happening had a slight upside to it after all.   
  
“Is there a particular pizza that you want?” Mark called from the other room.

 

“I’m fine with anything. If it has cheese I’ll eat it.”

 

“Why didn’t you just go out and buy cheese?” I could practically hear the smirk in his tone.

 

“Don’t be a smartarse Markimoo.” I stood up from the sofa silently and walked unseen towards the room that Mark was in

 

“Or what Jackaboy? What are you going to do?” Mark paused unsure of why I wasn’t answering and as he walked back into the sitting room I pounced on him having the element of surprise on my side.

 

“You really want to know?” I leant down and whispered softly in his ear “Bet you never realised how strong I was huh?”   
  
“Get off you big loon.” Mark was trying to sound irritated but he looked far from it.

 

“I’m fairly certain you could just push me off but I wanted to try something. Close your eyes.” I wiggled about to get comfortable straddling his waist as I had a few days previously. “Come on Mark don’t make me blindfold you. Close your eyes.”

 

“I’m up for a blindfold.” The man beneath me chuckled looking up at me innocently.

 

“Shut up ya kinky bastard.”

 

“Make me.” He pouted turning his head to the side.

 

Readjusting myself again I felt him fidget beneath me. I placed a hand either side of his body and leant in sealing our lips together for a few moments that felt more like hours to us before finally pulling away. My brain felt like it had exploded. There had always been something in the back of my mind telling me to do it. I always had something telling me that if I just kissed him everything would be alright. I wrote it off every time it happened. Mark was my friend. Nothing more. I couldn’t have feelings for him… Could I?

 

 I looked down our eyes meeting. He didn’t look upset. I guessed that was a good thing. How awful would it have been if I was a shit kisser?

 

Tilting his head at me Mark tangled a hand in my hair to get my attention back on him. Before he could take control I leaned down again and lingered for longer as our lips met again and we fought for dominance.

 

I could get used to this.


	11. Caught in the Crossfire

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark and Jack are paranoid about being caught and their friends start getting caught in the middle of what they have done and their behaviour makes their friends suspicious and curious as to what is going on with them.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you everyone for the continued support. I really appreciate it.

When we parted again Mark pulled me into his side. “You want to explain what the hell just happened?” I started to panic. Maybe he hadn’t felt what I had during that kiss. When our lips met I felt like there was nothing else more important in the world that the two of us in that moment. Cheesy I know but it actually happens. Believe me. In that moment I had never wanted anything more. He was my best friend but maybe there was something more… I looked up at him. His eyes were locked with mine and he was patiently waiting for my response. I tried to read the look in his eyes, was that worry? What did he have to be worried about?

 

I bit my lip toying with my words and trying to form coherent sentences that told him how I felt right now. It was then that I started to realise that there were no words for it. How could I ever explain it without words? I hoped with everything inside of me that he felt the same way. That would be the only way that he could ever understand and I didn’t want to think about what would happen if he didn’t.

 

“Mark… I…” Just as I was coming up with a way to say what I was thinking the doorbell rang

 

“Shit” Mark scrambled to his feet “I’m not expecting anyone…”

 

Without a single word spoken aloud we could both tell we were thinking the same thing. Was it the police?

 

The earlier tension returned to the air and I saw Mark’s muscles tense from the fear and uncertainty.

 

“You’re sure you aren’t expecting anyone? Didn’t you order our food?” I stood up walking up behind him.

 

“I was about to but then you jumped me…” Damn it there went the easy option.

 

There was another ring of the doorbell and a firm knock at the door. We both stared at it in fear and stood there staring at the door like it would bite us if we would go too close. “Mr Fischbach. Open the door it’s the police.”

 

“Mark… remember what we agreed.” Nodding at me he walked to the door opening it slowly. Before I could register what was going on Mark had Tyler against the wall and was threatening to report him for his imitation of an officer. I rushed over to stop Mark doing anything rash. “Put him down, he was only jokin! Jeeze dude it’s okay…” My eyes met his as I tugged at his sleeves trying to move his arms away from the man a foot off of the ground. There was so much more I wanted to say to him right now. If he kept acting so rashly our cover would be blown in no time, we had to act natural.

 

Eventually my pulling on his sleeves worked he let Tyler down and walked out of the hallway in a huff.

 

“What the hell has gotten into him?” Tyler looked at me as if I knew the answer. Which… I mean I did but you can’t just go around telling people the truth, especially when it was the truth that we were living through right now. I stayed silent. “Sean? Do you know anything? Everyone is worried about him. The fans have been asking questions for weeks and we just get more every time he posts a video. They’re not stupid man and they’re going to figure things out, probably before we do. Maybe we should persuade him to go and see someone. I mean it wouldn’t hurt to get him to talk to a therapist or someone like that god only knows that he’s terrible with his anger, we’ve talked about it before with how he always criticises himself. He agreed to it then. Maybe you could persuade him this time?”

 

“He’s stubborn he wouldn’t listen to me.” This was only half true, he probably would listen to me just like he had earlier in the day. How on earth was I planning on living with the knowledge that I am the reason those people’s families will never get closure? I was just making the best of a bad situation and now I was trying to do the same again. If Mark was talking to someone on a one to one basis they would ask him questions that would lead to our arrest. It was unavoidable really and it wouldn’t be his fault but all it took was the slightest slip up and then we were both going to be in a lot of trouble. “I thought you could tell me what was going on though. That look you gave me… at the restaurant… something’s happened before. You want to tell me?”

 

“It’s nothing serious, I’m sure it was a trick of the light. His eyes just looked different, they were dull with a tinge of well no, they were black. Or at least they looked it and when I got him to look at me there was no other response until suddenly he was normal. I don’t want to rule out my imagination because we were overly tired because we’d been at PAX and as we flew in we went straight into a full day’s worth of editing and recording to get him back on schedule. Whether I imagined it or not he was in a bad mood afterwards and I have no real explanation for it because it was such a sudden change from how he had been beforehand.”

 

“Tyler what are you saying.” I kept my voice level.

 

“I don’t know Jack. I just haven’t been able to forget what I saw yet and I don’t think I will anytime soon. I still see his eyes looking black in my dreams and it would be easy to forget but… and I know it sounds crazy but there was a tension in the air and it felt like a predator hunting their prey. That’s the one and only time I’ve been scared of him, apart from tonight. I didn’t think he was going to let me go. Jack we need to help him go and see a specialist because I doubt he’ll do it without us.”

 

“He’s fine” I snapped and my voice came out a lot harsher than I had intended it to. “I think you should go.”

 

“Jack. Please. I’ve known him for a long time. He’s never had a good mental state and he’s always been better off when he can talk things out.” I cut him off

 

“He talks to me.”

 

“That’s not the same. He needs someone, a professional that understands the situation that he is in. Someone who is able to help him out and decide if he needs medication or anything to make him more able to live his life.” Tyler looked at me with begging eyes.

 

“I’ve got this. Believe me, he’s not doing as badly as you seem to think he is. It’s like you’re assuming that I’m not looking out for him at all here. I’m not that sort of person. He means a lot to me, he’s my best friend and I’ve looked up to him for years.” I took a deep breath and held up a hand to silence Tyler as he went to start talking again. “When you came here tonight you saw him on edge and I get that it got you worried but it’s okay. He’s just a little over protective right now that’s all. The police dropped by earlier-“

 

“Oh god what happened?” Seeing the shock on his face at my lie made it easier to continue. All I had to do was play the innocent card. The police knew that Mark lived here and they knew what he did for a living. They’d been to his house before to help him deal with crazy fans and it wasn’t a completely foreign idea that they would warn him about a crazed murderer or pair of murderers because they knew that he cared about the people and played a key role in keeping a large proportion of both the local and worldwide community calm.

 

“They just came to let Mark know that some nutjobs murdered two people in the city.” I tried not to look smug.

 

“You can’t be serious! Do they think he’s in danger?” Tyler was panicking and I could see it from his facial expression to his body language.

 

“They just wanted to tell him. If the community had heard first it could have turned messy we both know they worry, you said it yourself. They like to update him to keep him ahead of the game so that he can plan what he needs to say before he’s drowned out by comments worrying about him.” I turned away from the man next to me.

 

“That makes sense. Look Jack, please can you just think about trying to persuade him. I know it won’t be easy but you’re probably the one with the best chance right now. You said he’s being protective so he’ll listen, I can feel it, please just try for his sake. He’s like a wild animal. He doesn’t realise it’s for his own good until you force him to do it.”

 

“I’ll think about it. Look we were up late last night. No offense but could we have some time? From the others as well. It’s nothing personal just that we’re a bit shaken after the news today as well.” I turned my head to look at him again.

 

“That’s fine.” He nodded. “You’re a good person Jack just let me know if you need our help and don’t forget about the big group overwatch game we had scheduled.”

 

“I won’t forget.” Letting Tyler out I shut the door behind him again. How was I able to lie so easily? I didn’t even find it hard anymore. I couldn’t tell if I was lying to protect Mark, our friends or myself and honestly I didn’t know if I cared anymore. I was in too deep to back out so I had to stick to it no matter how I felt.


	12. The Devil Within

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark fights his inner demons trying to decide when he stopped feeling the emotions that he should have in the moments that he was experiencing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is something a bit different to the rest of what I have written so far. It's going to be from Mark's POV and I hope it's okay.

**Mark’s POV**

I ran a hand through my hair trying to calm myself down. How could he think that would be funny? Sure he doesn’t know the whole story but it’s not like it’s a prank you would usually pull on your friends or am I that out of touch that I don’t understand what’s funny anymore. My head was thumping. Too much had happened in the last few days and I hadn’t been ready for any of it.

 

I had been looking forward to Jack coming to see me from the moment that we had arranged on Skype but since he got here everything had been falling apart I couldn’t understand what was going on… usually everything went okay-ish, I mean it wasn’t perfect but I damn well tried to make it as close to perfect as I could or at least bearable. Jack was like a kindred spirit to me he had been my best friend since well… since I found him.

 

Yeah that’s right. You heard me I found him not Felix, not anyone else, I found him on Twitter, I found his channel before anyone else. I’m sure no one believes me but it’s true. I was the one who that sat there late at night staring at his channel, watching his videos over and over unable to get over the man I was seeing in front of me. He was different, I wasn’t sure what it was, well I knew for certain that it wasn’t his accent… he did the single worst impression of an American accent I’ve ever heard. Why he didn’t just stick to his normal accent I have no idea. He maintains that he thought it would be embarrassing but looking back I’m sure that he’s more embarrassed by the accent he tried to put on. It was kind of weird for me to hang out around him, I mean he’s gotten better he used to be like the single biggest fan boy ever. Of course I was used to it It’s only natural when people meet me. Don’t take that seriously by the way… I don’t really think about myself like that.

 

Sighing, I walked into my room shutting the door firmly behind me. I wish I had a decent lock on it but I was left with the busted up one thanks to the previous tenant.

 

I had really been trying lately, I had wanted to work on my anger for years but now it was starting to have an effect on other people and I knew that I had to act soon or I would end up hurting someone close to me. I wasn’t naturally angry. I mean as a kid I was fairly care-free. I didn’t have the best time as a kid but it wasn’t like I turned to violence to fix my problems. My mum used to tell me that I got so angry and pent up because I kept everything inside. I know that she meant well trying to encourage me to get things out in the open. She only wanted the best for me. It just wasn’t that simple though. I kept my anger and irritation inside because I didn’t want the people around me to have to deal with it. If I kept it to myself then I wouldn’t be a burden on anyone else, I’d be able to act like nothing was going on and for once people would believe me. I never felt like I could share with anyone. My mum was always busy and my stepmother had better things to worry about especially after my father well… after she had so much more to do to keep us safe and happy. If I thought about it I could have found someone to talk to earlier on it may have saved me from becoming quite as messed up but I didn’t think about that. I didn’t have time.

 

Since I had been younger there had always been a little voice in my head. I was never alone and I was always hearing about what I was doing wrong. The little voice was like a parasite. I always had someone with me but it was like having a best friend who spent time with you only to punch you in the gut every 10 yards or so. I wished that he would leave me alone to begin with and then I had to change schools. We were so out of place. Not that we had a choice. Whether we fitted in or not we were going to be studying here and the parental ‘Go and make some friends today champ’ talk didn’t work on me. The kids were always different from me. I was the odd one out and boy did they love to let me know it! I spent hours running from people my own age, my possibilities for friendship fading fast and through it all there was this person on my shoulder (or to be more precise, in my head) protecting me and keeping me company. He had been there through a lot of the hard times in my life and I wasn’t sure what I would do without him. Sure there had been some weird incidents, but we always make mistakes.

 

I only got 4 detentions that I can remember and okay so maybe they were justified but I hadn’t been so keen on following through on my actions. I distinctly remember: Breaking a kids nose because he called me a geek, ‘accidentally’ breaking my best friend’s arm because he told me that he only liked me because I was smart and he could copy my answers and pass any test without having to study, Beating 8 bullies up because they thought it would be funny to pick on the new kid (it wasn’t by the way…) and last but not least I nearly burnt down the science lab because I was too busy having a heated argument with my lab partner over the fact that he wasn’t doing anything more than trying to sabotage my hard work. I don’t think any of them had been that unjust. My memories of the actual events were fuzzy at best. I don’t remember thinking about what I was doing and I told the same thing to my teachers but I just got the same response over and over. ‘Work on your anger Mark. You could be a wonderful student Mark but you have to stop getting into fights because it just doesn’t help anyone when you beat your group up’ For that one I also may have threatened to hit the teacher. I had realised that my anger was out of control and I had spent time trying to subdue it but it was useless. I could hold it in but there was no chance of me getting rid of it for good without finding a destructive outlet for it.

 

I slid down the backside of the bedroom door. What on earth had Jack and I been thinking. I knew that I could be destructive and violent but I had no idea that I could be so sadistic. What I hadn’t admitted to Jack was that part of me had enjoyed the power over the woman that I had been killing. Seeing her begging me for her life had started a fire that I didn’t want to have to pay attention to but I knew I would have to eventually. If I didn’t address it I knew that it would get out of control and it would put other people at risk.

 

Despite the fact that I didn’t really remember the times when my anger took over I always tried to make sure that I kept my common sense about me. I knew that what I was doing was wrong, it was every single time but what really got me was the fact that I sometimes had control while my anger consumed me. More than once I had been almost fully conscious as I took out my anger on someone and I couldn’t lie. It felt strangely satisfying.

 

When I had first realised that I was awake I had been terrified. I couldn’t believe that I was witnessing myself doing such horrible things but I soon started to get used to it, that’s when I think I started gaining more control over the situation. Something inside of me was pushing me, seeing how far I would go without it having to take over and do the work for me. I remember the first time I walked into that new school. I was in control more than anything else that day and I had beaten most of them up when I felt a pang of regret. I was having second thoughts and then my world went black. I don’t remember doing to them what I was then later accused of. I thought I had left them in quite a mild condition so it was a shock to me when the headmistress insisted one of the boys was on life support.

 

The fact that I could control these moments did nothing but convince me to hold my anger in for longer. I wanted more. It sounds stupid to say out loud but I wanted to see how far this thing inside of me would go. I knew it could taunt, I knew it could defend me, I knew it would go for victims nearly unprovoked and it wasn’t long before I found out it could kill. That I could kill.

 

Coming home for the first time covered in blood I remembered nothing but I wasn’t scared. I saw myself dripping in blood that didn’t belong to me and I expected to be terrified or exhilarated or at least feel something and all I got was anger. Anger that I couldn’t feel what I wanted to. It wasn’t fair I should have been terrified, instead I felt like a fucking psycho unable to feel what was going around me. What I was doing to people when I was at my weakest.

 

It couldn’t go on like this! I had to snap out of this. Jack wasn’t safe if I let myself lose control. I had to change tonight, no looking back. This was my chance.


	13. Captive

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anti is back and Mark tries to find a way to control him

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm loosing my enthusiasm for this story but I want to actually complete it because I have never got this far for NANOWRIMO or had so many people leave positive feedback and kudos.
> 
> I'm sorry if it isn't very good, I'm starting to get into one of those phases where I hate everything that I write again and it took me until 2 am to write something that kept me on track with my word count. I'm sorry if it ruins it for you. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.

For almost an hour I sat with my knees up to my chest and my back to the door. I listened carefully but heard nobody come up for what felt like forever. As I went to move I heard Jack come upstairs, he paused outside my door and listened to see if he could hear any noise. I waited, holding my breath and trying not to move. He tried the door before walking away. I waited until I heard the door to the recording room close. He was going to be busy for a while, he’d said something when he arrived. Some files corrupted. Of course I offered him to use my resources, he was definitely a creature of habit and he hated to think that he might screw up his consistent uploads for his fans.

 

I chuckled to myself. Consistent uploads. That was like a far off dream for my subscribers!

 

I’d been getting better. Since Tyler had been helping me I’d been better at sticking to a schedule and getting things out, roughly, on time. I guess it was something to be proud of but I would never be as good at staying on schedule as Jack was. As I pushed myself upright I felt a shiver rack my body. That’s weird… it’s not cold. I didn’t get cold easily so I was sure it wasn’t that but before I could ponder what was going on for too long I could feel the unease in the house. What was going on?

 

I took a deep breath pressing my ear to the door to see if I could hear anything. The house was mostly in silence with a faint thumping coming from somewhere that I couldn’t identify. Maybe Chica was playing with one of her toys?

 

While I think part of me knew that Chica was going to be the least likely occupant of the house to be making so much noise a different part of me wished that it could have been. It would have been normal dog behaviour for her to be throwing her toy around, most dogs would do it on a regular basis but not my little munchkin. She was so gentle. As she had started to mature out of her puppy stage I had noticed a huge difference. Her temperament had calmed down even further and she was happy to just sit and cuddle up with me no interaction necessary. She was the most loyal companion I could ask for and I never wanted her to change.

 

Swallowing hard, I let myself come to the inevitable conclusion. If it wasn’t Chica making the noise, then there was only one other person in the house that I knew of. Jack. Maybe he’d been raging at a game, god knows that I had been in that position a hundred times before and I knew exactly how it felt. The problem with that theory is that everything was silent. As much as I had tried to make my recording room soundproof it wasn’t perfect. Matt and Ryan used to take the mickey out of me when they heard me do something particularly stupid and if they could hear me then there was no way I shouldn’t have heard Jack’s outro by now. Damn it I was shaking. I couldn’t tell if I was terrified or... no I was terrified. There was no point in denying it to myself I had to be honest with someone and if that person wasn’t me then I had no idea who it was.

 

I gently stroked Chica’s head and she looked up at me her big eyes showing something that I believed was concern. She couldn’t be worrying about me right? They say that animals can tell things that we can’t, that their senses are better and so they pick up on things that we just look past and count as part of what is going on outside of what directly affects us.

 

“It’s okay sweetie. You stay here and I’ll be back in a bit and I’ll take you out for a walk” She briefly perked up looking at me before dropping her head back down on to her paws. It’s that straight forward is it. I laughed under my breath. Chica was strangely my voice of reason. Sometimes it felt like she was talking to me and it’s not like I’m crazy. I didn’t mean it in that kind of way it’s just when I was going to do something stupid, just looking at those big sad eyes would stop me from going through with anything. Maybe I’d been alone too long…

 

Walking to the bottom of the stairs I reluctantly started to climb them, walking slowly afraid of what I was going to find. I knew that usually I was much stronger than Jack but if it wasn’t him… I’d have to just try my best, he was a fighter after all.

 

I walked up to the door of my recording room and stood there breathing as quietly as possible straining my ears to try and see if I could hear any movement at all. “Jack?” I waited for a few moments silently hoping that he would just walk out his usual chipper self. “Jack please I don’t want to overreact but you’re being awfully quiet in there. For anyone else it wouldn’t really bother me but you’re never quiet. If something isn’t going right I can help you we can fix it together. You don’t have to do videos on your own either. If you’d rather do some collabs…. I’m up for it… I mean It makes sense, we’re both in the same place at the same time and how often does that really happen considering how far apart we live. I mean it’s up to you but I just want to help you. Just open the door and talk to me because you’ve got me so worried out here.” I held my breath hoping that he was going to answer the door. It was a slim chance but I had to start somewhere. For all I knew he was just sitting at the computer trying to decide what game he wanted to play next. I’d have just looked lik an idiot going in guns blazing if that had been the case and he already thinks that I’m and idiot. I sighed when a couple of minutes later I had no verbal response. “Jack I wanted to give you the chance to come out on your own but I’m going to open this door whether you want me to or not. Out of everyone we know I’m probably the person who knows the best that it isn’t a good idea to keep things like this bottled up.” I put my hand on the door handle and pushed down gently. Three.. Two… One… “Okay I’m coming in.”

 

I really had been expecting him to open the door before it came to it but desperate times called for desperate measures. I opened the door and was completely unprepared for what happened next. Before I even had a chance to blink I was pinned to the floor and my head was throbbing where it had smashed against the chair leg as I fell.

 

“Let me guess… you’re not Jack” I mumbled.

 

“You’re smarter than you look.” The creature hissed at me leaning in close while straddling me for what the third time in as many days?

 

“Do you have a thing about straddling me? I mean I’m not complaining but it’s a little strange. I suppose you were the one urging Sean to kiss me aswell wh-“ I was cut off with a kiss.

 

“You’re wrong. He’s wanted to kiss you since he first saw you and then he developed stupid platonic feelings for you and he stopped himself. It’ pathetic how he changed his mind just because you were actually okay with being friends with him instead. He settled for being friends because he wanted you to be in his life. If it meant that he could keep you in his life he was willing to sacrifice his happiness. You’re more alike than either of you care to admit.”

 

“Who are you?” I had to tense my muscles to keep my voice from shaking.

 

“Wouldn’t you like to know darlin’…” The creature chuckled darkly. I stared at him not letting him scare me like he was hoping to.

 

“So you said I wasn’t as stupid as I looked…” I concentrated on keeping his eyes locked with mine. If I kept him distracted from what he was trying to do, then I would have the upper hand. He nodded. “Well… How come you think that, you… well… Jack is always joking that I’m stupid I thought that you being… well who you are would have thought the same way as…” Before I finished my sentence I had managed to distract him enough to flip him over.

 

Anti stared at me growling as I grabbed a pair of handcuffs from under my computer desk. They were for a reading your comments video and nothing else I swear! I snapped them around his wrists and attached him to the base of the desk. I started to panic. Hopefully it would be strong enough to hold him it wasn’t like I had thought this through so far I had been hoping that it wouldn’t come to this so I hadn’t exactly planned out how this should have gone.

 

“Tell me when you’re you again Jack. I’ll be downstairs. Don’t keep me waiting too long okay?” As I left the room I shut the door behind me. I wished that I could sit with him but I didn’t want to flip out if he tried to persuade me to let him out. No matter how much I told myself that chaining him up was for his own good there was a big part of me that would rather just let him do his thing as long as I could watch.


	14. Distractions are the sweetest form of procrastination

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mark leaves Anti to his own devices and goes to play games and distract himself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it's been so long. I've had major writer's block and I've been crumbling under the pressure.

Walking down the stairs I rubbed my forehead in frustration. I wanted to be in the room with him, I knew that I was going to regret leaving him in the room on his own but I couldn’t control myself. I knew that if I had stayed I wouldn’t have been strong enough to keep him cuffed to the desk. I wasn’t even sure if it was going to hold but at least it stood a chance this way. If I had been in the room I had a feeling that I would only make things worse. The likelihood that he wasn’t going to try and wind me up was slim and I wasn’t prepared not to snap his head right off. I knew that I had always struggled with my temper but it set me on edge to know that…. that thing was in Jack’s body and could probably kill him without so much as a second thought. Okay so I was worried about him. I know that sounds a little bit weird seeing as I just handcuffed him to the desk but it was for his own good. I just had to wait for him to come back to being himself and then we could talk about this. The longer I waited the more I realised that we were both hiding things. We were both too scared to admit the truth and if we weren’t careful we were going to get people killed and probably not even realise what was going on.

 

If I was being honest the situation felt all too familiar. I wondered to myself whether it had happened to me before but surely that couldn’t be the case. If you kill people you remember it right? Or at least the people around you tell you what you did… I really must have been losing it because there was no way I could be having déjà vu over the murders when I was so certain I had never even thought about doing something like that in the past.

 

This is insane. I was just going to have to grin and bear it. I could hear Jack upstairs screaming obscenities at me and thrashing around in an attempt to get himself free from the restraints. Sighing I went to the TV turning it on and linking up my PS4, I would just have to drown him out. It couldn’t be that hard right. I plugged my headphones in and attached the controller sitting cross legged on the floor. What did I even want to play? I wasn’t in the mood for trying to strategically eliminate the enemy so that was overwatch out. What did I want right now?

 

I remembered how weird it had felt to feel emotionless mere hours ago and I decided that I wanted to make myself sad. Usually if I wanted to feel something I would have gone for a horror game but the way this day had been going it felt like I was currently living in a horror game so I needed something different something that would tug at my emotions and show me that I was still me. If I let myself become emotionless then I was essentially letting the monsters win and I wasn’t going to let that happen today. We’d done enough damage. It was going to be over.

 

I flicked through the games I had and was torn between two choices. Hmm… It’s been a while since I played this. I picked the game and loaded it up. The home screen was so peaceful, the colours were a palette of pastels and the way the light was cast across the scene was a work of genius it looked real but with the hint of fiction which made you wonder what was going to happen next. I started the game and was immediately immersed in the cut scene and few sections of gameplay that followed.

 

After about an hour a particularly loud bang caught my attention despite me having my headphones on. Did he knock himself out or what? Shit what was I supposed to do just leave him up there alone and hope that he was okay… Should I go armed…?

 

No wait. I need to be sensible. This is my best friend. He’s not going to hurt me. I haven’t done anything to hurt him. I had the opportunity and I chose not to. Surely he’s going to see that. I don’t hurt people. It’s not who I am. I had always been stronger than most of my peers and since I had started working out it was getting to the point that I was afraid of hurting other people. I couldn’t tell when I was gripping too hard and I had almost paid the price for it. I had been angry and I wasn’t thinking. I had paid no attention to the way Tyler was trying to push me off, I was fixated on keeping him there and making sure that he listened to me. He accepted my apologies and I was lucky but it was far too close of a call. I hadn’t even remembered grabbing him and the next thing I know I could see the bruise forming on his arm.

 

Hooking my headphones onto the top of the TV I switched off the console and stood up. I had to check on him. If he was hurt… or god forbid something worse, I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I didn’t at least try and help. I had to take the risk. I know that he would do the same thing for me. I climbed the stairs slowly and quietly, uneasy at the silence. My mind was racing. Above everything else I was just hoping that Jack was okay. Anything else could be replaced. Even the computer.

 

I walked up to the door of the recording room and pressed my ear to it still hearing nothing. Standing back up straight I called out to him “Jack…Sean? Are you in there still.” I muttered to myself “Of course he is did you hear him leave you idiot?” I knocked on the door. “Can you hear me? You’ve got me worried man at least say something… let me know that you are alive. I don’t care if you’re mad at me I just want to make sure that you’re okay…” I knocked on the door the nerves causing my hands to shake. “Jack…I’m coming in”

 

I took a deep breath. 3…2…1 I opened the door and stepped through the doorway. Before I could react I realised I had activated a trip wire and I could see the computer box coming straight for my face. Well shit.


	15. Communication is Key

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anti tries to draw Dark out to play with him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm doing a terrible job at keeping up to date. I'm like 10,000 words behind so I have no idea how this is going to go and I'm sorry for my erratic update schedule with this project at the moment.

I woke up slowly the world around me blurred at the edges. What the hell had happened? Ugh.. I tried to sit up and found that I was tied up pretty damn tight. Okay no need to panic…I just need to think through what has been going on.

 

I remember being worried for Jack’s safety. The silence had been unnerving and I had to make sure that he was safe, he was my best friend after all. The few seconds before I had hit the floor had gone by in a blur. I barely remembered what was going on but I did remember seeing a glowing green eye in my peripheral vision. Was it Antisepticeye? Surely that couldn’t be true he wasn’t real… Well he was as real as Dark was but that didn’t make him really real right?

 

“What are you blabbering on about Markimoo?” The dark figure loomed above me. I was pretty sure that I hadn’t said anything out loud. Maybe this came naturally with a head injury. It seemed pretty normal to see an evil alter ego of your best friend in your recording room after you’ve just been mysteriously knocked out. Okay it wasn’t normal but it was plausible.

 

Hold on I didn’t remember saying any of that out loud… I looked up at him trying to stay calm. Staring him straight in the eyes I felt like I was drowning, my breath caught in my throat and I couldn’t get a word out to stop what was happening. I felt the world spinning around me and then everything went dark.

 

**Anti’s POV**

I couldn’t help but laugh. Humans were so weak, they tried to trick other species int thinking that they were strong because they could think but when it came down to it they were weak pieces of shit who were at the mercy of their emotions. It makes me sick to think that I’m in a human body but we make them stronger, granted we don’t have to but it’s a good idea to try and protect them at least for a bit otherwise they die and you have to start the process all over again from the beginning and that’s boring. Death always liked to get in the way of progress. Or as I liked to put it death could see when you were having fun and the son of a bitch never lets you finish what you’ve started. Every. Single. Time. I’ve been killed before I can finish doing what I came here for. I’m done. It’s not going to happen again.

 

I sat on the floor cross legged staring at the unconscious man on the floor. God, I hoped this worked. He wasn’t what I had been expecting. I was ready to bargain with Dark and I got the pathetic human instead. It’s a good job that I had been expecting a fight from Dark. If I had been naïve enough to think that he would come quietly then I might not have tied him up and then who knows what would have happened. Drumming my fingers on my thigh I looked around the room. The fans were going to love the video that I had just recorded. I told them that I wasn’t going to do much more with the character of anti but I couldn’t resist. It was just so easy I just had to speak to the camera. I didn’t need to edit it, I didn’t need effects, they would lap it up because for some reason they were obsessed with me. Not that I could blame them but I was starting to enjoy the fact that Jack allowed me access to so many other people. They would trust him because he was so honest and down to earth and that meant he could never be bad. But I’m not him.

 

Sighing I leant closer to Mark’s body. I don’t know why he’d over reacted, so maybe it was a little freaky that I could read his mind but I hadn’t really thought anything of it. He had overreacted massively and passing out? All he had to do was give me the man I was looking for and I wouldn’t have even had to lay a finger on him. I don’t know what had been holding me back from hurting him but I guess it’s not the best way to start negotiations, even in the demon world.

 

The longer I sat there the more impatient I grew. Why should I wait around? That arsehole was probably just fucking with me now to annoy me and he knew that it would work. Let’s see how he copes when I starve him out. I got up and walked over to the door. Before I had fully left the room, I heard noise behind me.

 

“Say that again.” My voice had a venomous edge to it and I turned around leaning in the doorframe. “Unless you’re afraid.”

 

His voice was muffled but my ears pricked up and I heard him crystal clear. “Untie me. NOW.”

 

I couldn’t stop myself from laughing. I walked back into the room and slammed and locked the door behind me. “Why should I darlin’?” I walked closer staying at the edges of his line of sight “So you can sock me one and do a runner? No I have you at my mercy like this and I have no good reason to let you fight me for the upper hand. I want you to listen for once so you can either shut up or I can gag you.”

 

“I won’t listen to you unless you untie me. It’s an impassable situation you have to do it.” He tried to look confident in the situation but he just looked annoyed, as I paced around the room he became impatient.

 

“You weren’t listening ya idjit. I said that if you weren’t going to listen I’d gag you.” I pulled a thick wad of material from my pocket and taped it around his mouth with a roll of gaffa tape that he had been using to organise his cabling. If looks could kill… well they can’t so we won’t even bother thinking about what may or may not have happened if they could. I barely pared him a moment to see that he could still breath. If he tuned blue I’d fix it but until then it served him right.

 

“I have some questions for you… Don’t give me that look, I’ll keep them simple. Blink once for yes and twice for no.” I took a deep breath in he was not at all happy with me, I had to be careful. The longer he was awake the more time he had to think about how he was going to try and make a mistake. Taking away his voice meant that the neighbours wouldn’t hear him but some part of me told me that screaming for help wasn’t his style anyway. Better to be safe than sorry, I didn’t need the cops busting my arse now. “ Have we met before?”

 

I stared at him waiting for an answer. You have to blink eventually.

 

Yes we had. “So you are the one who keeps coming back then? You’re the one who keeps ruining my plan?” Yes again, how did he look so smug when he was held so powerless? I felt myself snarling at him without really thinking about it. I was the one with power in this situation and I wasn’t going to let him turn the tables so easily. I leant over him pressing down gently on his chest. “Don’t get cocky and I might let you go.” I jumped in shock. I could hear laughter. “How are you doing that?” I shivered as he spoke in my mind. _You should know. I know that you can do the same thing. Now let me go and I won’t hurt you._

“You won’t hurt me?” I chuckled. “You’re very confident for someone who is tied up. What makes you think I would even give you a chance to hurt me? Why should I untie you? What does it do for me?”

 

_I can help you. I’m stronger than you think I am. Let me out and I’ll show you._

“You’re not doing anything to persuade me here…”

 

_Take this damn gag out and then we can talk like equals._

I tilted my head to the side and looked at him. Pulling him up to a sitting position I checked that he was still firmly tied up and I reattached him to a different section of the desk. “Promise you won’t scream?” _Only if you don’t make me._

Before I had time to second guess my actions I grabbed my pocket knife from the floor and cut the gaffa tape holding the gag in place accidentally nicking his cheek to which he barely even flinched I threw the bundle of wet material to the other side of the room.

 

“You got what you wanted. Now tell me what I want to know.”

 

“Get me a drink” He sounded so confident. I scoffed at how he actually expected me to go and do it. It wasn’t going to happen.

 

“Excuse me…” I narrowed my eyes at him.

 

He chuckled darkly. “You heard me. Get me a drink and I’ll consider talking.”

 

“You do realise that you’re still tied up, right?” I stepped closer to him and knelt straddling over his legs. “Maybe you forgot? I mean you’re pretty used to it I’m sure.”

 

“Shut your mouth Jackaboy”

 

“Are we agreed that I don’t have to get you a drink then?”

 

“Bite me.”  
  
I leant down close to his ear. “Don’t tempt me sweetheart.”

 

He burst out laughing. “You’ve changed your tune.”  
  
“I can stop if you would rather?” I leant closer my lips brushing against his neck. “Just say the words and I’ll stop” I smirked. This was going to be a lot more fun than I had planned it to be.


End file.
